Discovery and sharing of photos between devices

ABSTRACT

Described are systems, media, and methods for discovery of media relevant to a user and sharing the media with the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 15/364,159filed Nov. 29, 2016 which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 14/452,331filed Aug. 4, 2014 which claims priority from and is a non-provisionalapplication of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/861,922, entitled“System and Methods of Processing Data Associated with Captured ContentIncluding Aspects of Curation/Consumption, Processing InformationDerived from the Captured Content and/or Other Features” filed Aug. 2,2013, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by referencefor all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

More photos are being snapped today than at any other point in history.The explosion in popularity of phones equipped with cameras, paired withsteady development in photo-sharing software has led to staggeringstatistics: 33% of the photos taken today are taken on a smartphone;over 1 billion photos are taken on smartphones daily; and 250 millionphotos are uploaded to Facebook every day. Despite the great opportunityfor consumption of all these photographs, today's simplistic tools forsharing and viewing them leave much to be desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Consider one data point that highlights the shortcomings of today'sphoto sharing tools: greater than 90% of today's pictures that are takenare “lost” as not shared or uploaded (and lost with them, aside fromsentimental value, is a great amount of potentially valuable data).There are many reasons for this. For instance, it is cumbersome to sharephotos from a certain event or general circumstance with others who alsotook part in those moments; current solutions require pre-invitingothers to join group albums or creating static lists and/or circles.There is no way to do this automatically, specifically for eachsituation and in the background. Requesting others to share photos afterthe event is often an irritating request for all parties and themultitude of work-around solutions means most photos are not sharedbefore they are superseded by new photos. Current sharing is alsoprimarily one-to-one and it is difficult to organize photos such thatthere is currently no easy way to see a complete album of an event ormoment in time that has been shared with others. This also means that itis also difficult for someone to see photos of themselves; 70% ofpictures taken are of someone else. Further, current systems do notutilize phonebook connections to determine the strength ofrelationships.

Today's online storage, social, and messaging systems do not focus onreliving moments. Rather, they focus on workflow automation and contentdistribution. But people generally do not want to have to actively sharecontent—they want to simply create and consume it. The presentdisclosure teaches novel ways to meet these desires and to ensure thatfar fewer photographs are “lost” due to the shortcomings of today'sphoto management and sharing solutions.

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for curating andconsuming photographs and information derived from photographs.Embodiments of the disclosed system may employ contact mapping,phonebook hashing, harvesting of photo metadata, collection of ambientcontextual information (including but not limited to recordings, highfrequency sounds etc) and other techniques.

In one aspect, disclosed herein are methods for grouping a plurality ofimages from a plurality of users into an event, the method comprising:receiving, at a computing system, a first set of metadata from a firstdevice associated with a first user and a second set of metadata from asecond device associated with a second user, wherein: the first set ofmetadata is associated with a first image stored on the first device,and includes location information and time information for the firstimage, the second set of metadata is associated with a second imagestored on the second device, and includes location information and timeinformation for the second image; identifying, by the computing device,a first event based on the first set of metadata and the second set ofmetadata, wherein the first event has a defined beginning time and adefined end time; associating, by the computing device, the first imageand the second image with the first event based on the locationinformation or the time information associated with the first image andthe second image; identifying, by the computing device, a relationshipbetween the first user and the second user; and sending, by thecomputing device, a notification to the first user that the second userhas an image associated with the first event. In some embodiments, themethod further comprises: receiving a first set of contacts informationfrom the first device and a second set of contacts information from thesecond device; and comparing the first set of contacts information withthe second set of contacts information to identify a match, wherein therelationship between the first user and the second user is identifiedbased on the match. In some embodiments, the first device stores aplurality of images and the method further comprises: associating aportion of the plurality of images with the first event on the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: creating thefirst event using at least one of the first set of metadata and thesecond set of metadata. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises: analyzing the first set of metadata and the second set ofmetadata; and inferring information about the first user and the seconduser based on the analyzing. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises: generating a recommendation for the first user or the seconduser based on the analyzing. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises: analyzing location information included in the first set ofmetadata and the second set of metadata; and determining a radius ofproximity for the first event based on the analyzing. In someembodiments, the method further comprises: receiving additionallocation-related information from an external source; and definingproperties of the first event using the additional information. In someembodiments, the method further comprises: receiving additional sets ofmetadata from additional devices associated with additional users;receiving sets of contacts information from the additional devices;receiving a first set of contacts information from the first device;analyzing the first set of contacts information, the additional sets ofcontacts information and the additional sets of metadata associated witheach of the additional users; determining a plurality of users among theadditional users who has at least one image associated with the firstevent; discovering a subset of users among the plurality of users whosecontact information is included in the first set of contactsinformation; and informing the first user and about the determinedsubset of users. In some embodiments, the method further comprises:receiving a third set of metadata from the first device, wherein thethird set of metadata is associated with a third image stored on thefirst device, and includes location information and time information forthe third image; comparing the location information and time informationfor the third image to the location and time information of the firstimage or the second image; determining that the location information andtime information for the third image is different from the location andtime information of the first image or the second image; creating, bythe computing device, a second event based on the third set of metadata,wherein the second event has a defined beginning time and a defined endtime that is different than the first event; and associating the thirdimage with the second event instead of the first event based on thelocation information or the time information associated with the thirdimage. In further embodiments, the method further comprises: closing thefirst event. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: mergingthe first event and the second event into a merged event, wherein: abeginning time of the merged event is equal to or before than thebeginning times of both the first event and the second event, and an endtime of the merged event is equal to or after than the end times of boththe first event and the second event. In some embodiments, the methodfurther comprises: receiving an instruction from the first user to sharethe first image with the second user; and making the first imageavailable to the second user. In some embodiments, the first devicestores a plurality of images and the method further comprises: receivinga query from the first user to identify one or more images on the firstdevice that belongs to a given event; analyzing sets of metadataassociated with the plurality of images; identifying zero or more imagesbased on the analyzing; and providing the identified zero or more imagesto the first user in response to the query.

In another aspect, disclosed herein are computer-implemented systemscomprising: a digital processing device comprising an operating systemconfigured to perform executable instructions and a memory; a computerprogram including instructions executable by the digital processingdevice to create a media sharing application comprising: a softwaremodule configured to receive, a first set of metadata from a firstdevice associated with a first user and a second set of metadata from asecond device associated with a second user, wherein: the first set ofmetadata is associated with a first image stored on the first device,and includes location information and time information for the firstimage, wherein the second set of metadata is associated with a secondimage stored on the second device, and includes location information andtime information for the second image; a software module configured toidentify a first event based on the first set of metadata and the secondset of metadata, wherein the first event has a defined beginning timeand a defined end time; a software module configured to associate thefirst image and the second image with the first event based on thelocation information or the time information associated with the firstimage and the second image; a software module configured to identify arelationship between the first user and the second user; and a softwaremodule configured to send a notification to the first user that thesecond user has an image associated with the first event. In someembodiments, the system further comprises: a software module configuredto receive a first set of contacts information from the first device anda second set of contacts information from the second device; and asoftware module configured to compare the first set of contactsinformation with the second set of contacts information to identify amatch, wherein the relationship between the first user and the seconduser is identified based on the match. In some embodiments, the firstdevice stores a plurality of images, the system further comprises: asoftware module configured to associate a portion of the plurality ofimages with the first event on the first device. In some embodiments,the system further comprises: a software module configured to create thefirst event using at least one of the first set of metadata and thesecond set of metadata. In some embodiments, the system furthercomprises: a software module configured to analyze the first set ofmetadata and the second set of metadata; and a software moduleconfigured to infer information about the first user and the second userbased on the analyzing. In some embodiments, the system furthercomprises: a software module configured to generate a recommendation forthe first user or the second user based on the analysis. In someembodiments, the system further comprises: a software module configuredto analyze location information included in the first set of metadataand the second set of metadata; and a software module configured todetermine a radius of proximity for the first event based on theanalysis. In some embodiments, the system further comprises: a softwaremodule configured to receive additional location-related informationfrom an external source; and a software module configured to defineproperties of the first event using the additional information. In someembodiments, the system further comprises: a software module configuredto receive additional sets of metadata from additional devicesassociated with additional users; a software module configured toreceive sets of contacts information from the additional devices; asoftware module configured to receive a first set of contactsinformation from the first device; a software module configured toanalyze the first set of contacts information, the additional sets ofcontacts information and the additional sets of metadata associated witheach of the additional users; a software module configured to determinea plurality of users among the additional users who has at least oneimage associated with the first event; a software module configured todiscover a subset of users among the plurality of users whose contactinformation is included in the first set of contacts information; and asoftware module configured to inform the first user about the determinedsubset of users. In some embodiments, the system further comprises: asoftware module configured to receive a third set of metadata from thefirst device, wherein the third set of metadata is associated with athird image stored on the first device, and includes locationinformation and time information for the third image; a software moduleconfigured to compare the location information and time information forthe third image to the location and time information of the first imageor the second image; a software module configured to determine that thelocation information and time information for the third image isdifferent from the location and time information of the first image orthe second image; a software module configured to create a second eventbased on the third set of metadata, wherein the second event has adefined beginning time and a defined end time that is different than thefirst event; and a software module configured to associate the thirdimage with the second event instead of the first event based on thelocation information or the time information associated with the thirdimage. In further embodiments, the system further comprises a softwaremodule configured to close the first event. In some embodiments, thesystem further comprises: a software module configured to merge thefirst event and the second event into a merged event, wherein: abeginning time of the merged event is equal to or before than thebeginning times of both the first event and the second event, and an endtime of the merged event is equal to or after than the end times of boththe first event and the second event. In some embodiments, the systemfurther comprises: a software module configured to receive aninstruction from the first user to share the first image with the seconduser; and a software module configured to make the first image availableto the second user. In some embodiments, the first device stores aplurality of images and the system further comprises: a software moduleconfigured to receive a query from the first user to identify one ormore images on the first device that belongs to a given event; asoftware module configured to analyze sets of metadata associated withthe plurality of images; a software module configured to identify zeroor more images based on the analyzing; and a software module configuredto provide the identified zero or more images to the first user inresponse to the query.

In another aspect, disclosed herein are computer-implemented systemscomprising: a digital processing device comprising an operating systemconfigured to perform executable instructions and a memory; a computerprogram including instructions executable by the digital processingdevice to create a media sharing application comprising: a softwaremodule configured to generate an event by analyzing metadata associatedwith a plurality of media stored on a mobile device of a first user, themetadata comprising date, time, and location of the creation of eachmedia; a software module configured to generate a collection byidentifying a second user having stored on their mobile device at leastone media associated with the event; a software module configured tosuggest sharing, by the first user, media associated with thecollection, to the second user, based on a symmetrical relationshipbetween the first user and the second user; and a software moduleconfigured to present an album to each user, each album comprising mediaassociated with the collection and either shared with the user orcreated by the user. In some embodiments, the media is one or morephotos or one or more videos. In some embodiments, the event isclassified as an intraday event or an interday event, the classificationbased on distance of the location of the creation of each media to ahome location. In some embodiments, the symmetrical relationship isidentified from mutual inclusion in contacts, two-way exchange of email,two-way exchange of text or instant message, or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the application further comprises a software moduleconfigured to present a notification stream to each user, thenotification stream providing updates on albums presented to the user.

In another aspect, disclosed herein are non-transitory computer-readablestorage media encoded with a computer program including instructionsexecutable by a processor to create a media sharing applicationcomprising: a software module configured to generate an event byanalyzing metadata associated with a plurality of media stored on amobile device of a first user, the metadata comprising date, time, andlocation of the creation of each media; a software module configured togenerate a collection by identifying a second user having stored ontheir mobile device at least one media associated with the event; asoftware module configured to suggest sharing, by the first user, mediaassociated with the collection, to the second user, based on asymmetrical relationship between the first user and the second user; anda software module configured to present an album to each user, eachalbum comprising media associated with the collection and either sharedwith the user or created by the user. In some embodiments, the media isone or more photos or one or more videos. In some embodiments, the eventis classified as an intraday event or an interday event, theclassification based on distance of the location of the creation of eachmedia to a home location. In some embodiments, the symmetricalrelationship is identified from mutual inclusion in contacts, two-wayexchange of email, two-way exchange of text or instant message, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application furthercomprises a software module configured to present a notification streamto each user, the notification stream providing updates on albumspresented to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system to perform thesteps discussed in connection with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of exemplary steps for associating twoimages with an event, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of exemplary steps for associating animage with an existing or new event, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary event, a plurality of exemplarycollections within the event and an exemplary album within one of thecollections in connection with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of exemplary steps for identifying aplurality of users having at least an image associated with an event,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of exemplary steps for sharing an imageof a first user with other users, according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for inputting a number to which an activationcode can be sent. When the user enters a phone number and then pressesthe button that says “Send Activation Code” the phone number the userinputted is sent a verification code via SMS.

FIG. 8 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for entering the verification code that they weresent via SMS. When the user enters the correct verification code andpresses the button that says “Complete Verification,” they are taken tothe next screen in onboarding.

FIG. 9 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a modal the user will see in theevent that the user does not enter a verification code within 30 secondsof it being sent. When the user presses the button “Try Again” anotherverification code will be sent to the user via SMS. When the userpresses the button “Call Me” the user will be taken to a screen with theverification code.

FIG. 10 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a modal the user will see in theevent that the user does not have any friends on Shoto. When the userpresses the button labeled “Invite” they will be taken to a list ofcontacts from their address book on Shoto. The user can then invitecontacts from this list to download Shoto.

FIG. 11 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for inviting contacts from the user's addressbook to download Shoto. When the user presses the placeholder avatarlabeled “Invite a friend to Shoto”, they will be taken to a list ofcontacts from their address book on Shoto. The user can then invitecontacts from this list to download Shoto.

FIG. 12 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for inviting contacts from the user's addressbook to download Shoto. When the user presses the button that says “SendInvite” beside the user's name, an SMS will be loaded with a link todownload Shoto. When the user sends the SMS, the contact will be sentthe link.

FIG. 13 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting the slide out menu the user willsee when they press on the three bars in the upper left hand corner ofthe timeline screen. The user will be able to change their avatar,create an event, view their friends list, merge albums, and access appsettings from the slide out menu.

FIG. 14 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for creating an event. The user must input a namefor the event; the event location; the time the event started and ended;their email; and a message to recipients of the event invite, in orderto create an event. When the user fills in all the fields and presses onthe button labeled “Create Event” the event will be created.

FIG. 15 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for sharing a created event. The user can sharethe event by sharing a URL that serves as a link to the event web page.When the user presses the button that says “Share Invite URL”, they seea variety of external applications through which the user can share aninvite URL.

FIG. 16 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for adding photos to an event that the userattended. The user can toggle the selected state of the photo by tappingon it. When the user presses on the button labeled “Send Photos &Continue”, the selected photos will be contributed to the event.

FIG. 17 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for uploading photos to Facebook. The user canupload an entire album by pressing the Facebook icon in the album view.When the user presses the Facebook icon, they will be taken to theFacebook upload screen, from which the user can edit the title anddescription of the album. The user can also select which photos theywant to upload by tapping on them. When the user presses the buttonlabeled “Share”, the selected photos will be uploaded to Facebook.

FIG. 18 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for viewing albums that have been removed from theshared tab on the timeline. When the user presses on the preview for analbum they will be able to view the photos in the album (and otherinformation, too).

FIG. 19 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for viewing albums that have been removed from theunshared tab on the timeline. When the user presses on the preview foran album, they will be able to view the photos in the album.

FIG. 20 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting the screen the user will see whenthey press “Sounds Good!” on an onboarding screen. The screen shows theuser and all the people in their address book who are on Shoto already.The screen also shows the user and list of all the people in theiraddress book who are not Shoto and provide them with an opportunity toinvite them to Shoto. When the user presses the button that says“Invite” beside the user's name, the button will change to say “Remove”and that user will be added as a recipient of a group SMS that containsa link to download Shoto. When the user presses the button that says“Send Invite,” a SMS with a link to download Shoto will be sent to theselected contacts, and the button will change to say “CompleteOnboarding.” When the user presses the button that says “CompleteOnboarding,” they will be taken to a screen with suggests them an albumto share.

FIG. 21 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have taken photos in the proximity of friends who are also onShoto, and no one has started sharing their photos from the event. Whenthe user presses the button that says “Start Sharing Photos” they willbe taken to a screen from which they can select people with whom toshare the photos.

FIG. 22 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see if theuser and the user's friends all have photos from a single memory, andthe user chooses to start sharing their photos from the memory. The userwill see “Friends who were there” ordered at the top of the list. Whenthe user presses on the empty circle beside each friend's name, thecircle will occupy with a check mark and the friend will be consideredselected. The user can toggle the selected state of the friend bytapping on the circle. When the user presses on the magnifying glass atthe top of the screen, they will activate a search function. As the usertypes in the name of the contacts they are looking for, they will beprovided with suggestions of names. When the user clicks on the buttonthat says “Next” they will be taken to a screen as seen in FIG. 23.

FIG. 23 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see afterthey are done selecting friends they want to share photos with. When theuser taps on the preview of the photos they check mark on the photo willdisappear and the photo will be considered unselected. The user cantoggle the selected state of the photo by tapping on it. When the userpresses on the button that says “Send,” the selected photos will beshared with the selected users and the user will be taken to thetimeline.

FIG. 24 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have taken photos in the proximity of friends who are also onShoto, and other people who were at the event have already startedsharing their photos. When the user presses the button that says “StartSharing Photos” they will be taken to a screen from which they canselect people with whom to share the photos.

FIG. 25 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have not taken photos in the proximity of friends who are also onShoto. This screen shows the user the album on their phone that has themost photos and is therefore labeled their most significant album.

FIG. 26 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase, a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have taken photos in the proximity of friends who are also onShoto. The screen shows the user their photos from a particular timewhen they were with other Shoto users. By pressing the button labeled“Start Sharing”, the user can share photos with other users who werethere when the photos were taken, in addition to contacts and users whowere not there.

FIG. 27 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have taken photos while they were removed from other Shoto users.When the user presses the button labeled “Start Sharing”, they will beable to share those photos with friends on Shoto and contacts from theirphone book.

FIG. 28 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey attempt to share photos that were not taken in the vicinity ofother Shoto users. The screen shows a list of friends who are also onShoto, in addition to contacts from the user's phone book who are not onShoto.

FIG. 29 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will only see ifthey have shared photos with, or received photos from, other Shotousers. The screen shows a list of albums that have been shared withother Shoto users, ordered by the date the photos in that album werefound by the server.

FIG. 30 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see if theypress on the preview of an album they have shared with other Shotousers. The screen shows the photos that belong to that album, inaddition to the avatars of those users who can view the album.

FIG. 31 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see if theyhave been invited to view photos by another Shoto user. The screen showsthe photos they have been invited to view, in addition to the avatars ofusers who have the ability to contribute photos to the album.

FIG. 32 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the preview of an album that is comprised of unsharedphotos the user took when they were removed from other Shoto users. Thescreen shows the photos in the album, in addition to a button labeled“Start Sharing”. When the user presses the button labeled “StartSharing”, they can share the photos in the album with other Shoto usersand contacts from their phone book, not on Shoto.

FIG. 33 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the preview of an album that is comprised of unsharedphotos the user took when they were in the vicinity of other Shotousers. The screen shows the user's photos from the collection, inaddition to a button labeled “Start Sharing”. When the user presses thebutton labeled “Start Sharing”, they can share the photos they took withother users who were in the vicinity of the user when the photos weretaken. The user can also share the photos with other Shoto users andcontacts from their phonebook, not on Shoto.

FIG. 34 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the preview of an album that is comprised of unsharedphotos the user took when they were in the vicinity of other Shotousers, and those other users have already started sharing their photosfrom the event. The screen shows the photos that belong to that album,and who has already started contributing to that album. The screen willalso show a button labeled “Share Back”. When the user presses on thebutton labeled “Share Back”, they will be able to share their photoswith other Shoto users and contacts from their phonebook, not on Shoto.

FIG. 35 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for notifying the user to various activities thattake place within the app.

FIG. 36 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the activity tab in another user's profile. The screenwill show the various actions that user has performed within the appincluding commenting and sharing.

FIG. 37 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the shared tab in another user's profile. The screen willshow previews of any albums that the user has shared with the other usersince joining Shoto. When the user presses on the preview they will seethe photos that belong to the shared album, in addition to who else cancontribute to and view the album

FIG. 38 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for presenting a screen the user will see whenthey press on the unshared tab in another user's profile. The screenwill show previews of any albums that contain photos that were takenwhen the user was with the other user. The screen will also show abutton labeled “Start Sharing”, beside the preview of the album. Whenthe user presses the button, they will be able to share their photosfrom the album with the other Shoto user, as well as contacts from theirphone book, not on Shoto.

FIG. 39 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for adjusting and accessing various settings. Thescreen will show a toggle function to back up the user's photos, back upthe user's photos only when connected to Wi-Fi, and automatically checkthe user in with other Shoto users when they are with each other.Additionally, the screen will shows buttons to access removed albumsfrom the timeline, a feedback system, and the company website.

FIG. 40 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for viewing a particular image within an album.The screen will show the image in full screen view and also the optionsto like, comment, and edit the photos. The screen will also show abutton with three dots that can be used to access image settings.

FIG. 41 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for adjusting the image settings. The screen willshow a toggle function to control the shared state of the photo. Thescreen will also show buttons labeled “Remove Photo” and “Report Photo”.When the user presses on the button labeled “Remove Photo”, the photowill be removed from the album. When the user presses on the buttonlabeled “Report Photo”, the photo will be reported to Shoto.

FIG. 42 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for a help screen with a verification code forcommunication with Shoto staff.

FIG. 43 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for viewing shared albums by other users andsharing albums with other users based on a location and a date.

FIG. 44 depicts a non-limiting, exemplary mobile user interface; in thiscase a user interface for viewing and adding comments to a shared album.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Consider one data point that highlights the shortcomings of today'sphoto sharing tools: greater than 90% of today's pictures that are takenare “lost” as not shared or uploaded (and lost with them, aside fromsentimental value, is a great amount of potentially valuable data).There are many reasons for this. For instance, it is cumbersome to sharephotos from a certain event or general circumstance with others who alsotook part in those moments; current solutions require pre-invitingothers to join group albums or creating static lists and/or circles.There is no way to do this automatically, specifically for eachsituation and in the background. Requesting others to share photos afterthe event is often an irritating request for all parties and themultitude of work-around solutions means most photos are not sharedbefore they are superseded by new photos. Current sharing is alsoprimarily one-to-one and it is difficult to organize photos such thatthere is currently no easy way to see a complete album of an event ormoment in time that has been shared with others. This also means that itis also difficult for someone to see photos of themselves; 70% ofpictures taken are of someone else. Further, current systems do notutilize phonebook connections to determine the strength ofrelationships.

Today's online storage, social, and messaging systems do not focus onreliving moments. Rather, they focus on workflow automation and contentdistribution. But people generally do not want to have to actively sharecontent—they want to simply create and consume it. The presentdisclosure teaches novel ways to meet these desires and to ensure thatfar fewer photographs are “lost” due to the shortcomings of today'sphoto management and sharing solutions.

Described herein, in certain embodiments, are methods for grouping aplurality of images from a plurality of users into an event, the methodcomprising: receiving, at a computing system, a first set of metadatafrom a first device associated with a first user and a second set ofmetadata from a second device associated with a second user, wherein:the first set of metadata is associated with a first image stored on thefirst device, and includes location information and time information forthe first image, the second set of metadata is associated with a secondimage stored on the second device, and includes location information andtime information for second first image; identifying, by the computingdevice, a first event based on the first set of metadata and the secondset of metadata, wherein the first event has a defined beginning timeand a defined end time; associating, by the computing device, the firstimage and the second image with the first event based on the locationinformation or the time information associated with the first image andthe second image; identifying, by the computing device, a relationshipbetween the first user and the second user; and sending, by thecomputing device, a notification to the first user that the second userhas an image associated with the first event.

Also described herein, in certain embodiments, are computer-implementedsystems comprising: a digital processing device comprising an operatingsystem configured to perform executable instructions and a memory; acomputer program including instructions executable by the digitalprocessing device to create a media sharing application comprising: asoftware module configured to receive, a first set of metadata from afirst device associated with a first user and a second set of metadatafrom a second device associated with a second user, wherein: the firstset of metadata is associated with a first image stored on the firstdevice, and includes location information and time information for thefirst image, wherein the second set of metadata is associated with asecond image stored on the second device, and includes locationinformation and time information for the second image; a software moduleconfigured to identify a first event based on the first set of metadataand the second set of metadata, wherein the first event has a definedbeginning time and a defined end time; a software module configured toassociate the first image and the second image with the first eventbased on the location information or the time information associatedwith the first image and the second image; a software module configuredto identify a relationship between the first user and the second user;and a software module configured to send a notification to the firstuser that the second user has an image associated with the first event.

Also described herein, in certain embodiments, are computer-implementedsystems comprising: a digital processing device comprising an operatingsystem configured to perform executable instructions and a memory; acomputer program including instructions executable by the digitalprocessing device to create a media sharing application comprising: asoftware module configured to generate an event by analyzing metadataassociated with a plurality of media stored on a mobile device of afirst user, the metadata comprising date, time, and location of thecreation of each media; a software module configured to generate acollection by identifying a second user having stored on their mobiledevice at least one media associated with the event; a software moduleconfigured to suggest sharing, by the first user, media associated withthe collection, to the second user, based on a symmetrical relationshipbetween the first user and the second user; and a software moduleconfigured to present an album to each user, each album comprising mediaassociated with the collection and either shared with the user orcreated by the user.

Also described herein, in certain embodiments, are non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media encoded with a computer programincluding instructions executable by a processor to create a mediasharing application comprising: a software module configured to generatean event by analyzing metadata associated with a plurality of mediastored on a mobile device of a first user, the metadata comprising date,time, and location of the creation of each media; a software moduleconfigured to generate a collection by identifying a second user havingstored on their mobile device at least one media associated with theevent; a software module configured to suggest sharing, by the firstuser, media associated with the collection, to the second user, based ona symmetrical relationship between the first user and the second user;and a software module configured to present an album to each user, eachalbum comprising media associated with the collection and either sharedwith the user or created by the user.

Certain Definitions

Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the samemeaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich this invention belongs. As used in this specification and theappended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include pluralreferences unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Any referenceto “or” herein is intended to encompass “and/or” unless otherwisestated.

As used herein, “event” refers to photos that were grouped because therewere taken within a particular distance (e.g., one hundred meters) ofone another at a similar time. The difference in time and distance todetermine an event may be changed based on the location of the user andthe history of user activities.

As used herein, “collection” refers to a subset of photos that belong toan event that were grouped because they were taken within a particulardistance (e.g., one hundred meters) of one another at a similar time andthe users who took the photos had a reciprocal relationship (e.g., hadthe other users' phone number stored in their respective phone books).In some embodiments, the collection is a virtual construct and notvisible to users.

As used herein, “album” refers to a subset of photos that belong to acollection, are grouped by location and time, and solely owned by theuser who took those photos or had those photos shared with them.

Overview

In some embodiments, disclosed herein is a way of using metadata inphotos to group, suggest what's relevant to an event and relevantinvitees basis their photos and/or geolocation tracked in the app.

The present disclosure describes systems that work together to allowusers to discover unseen photos taken by their friends and family.Through discovery the systems then allow users to see photos in a singlealbum from a particular moment in time (historically from the firstphoto). Albums of these moments are grouped into Days or Trips. Albumscan also be shared with users who were not present so that they can alsosee the photos and participate in the social communication (chat,comment, and like). To encourage more sharing, the systems generatememories for users to remind them of moments that are worth sharing. Thesystems also organize albums into days or trips depending if the photoswere taken in the user's home location. The systems will also provideinteraction with events such as music festivals asking a user if theywould like to submit photos for prizes when they enter the geo fence forthe event, they could upload automatically or when they leave, whenleaving the systems would present only the photos taken at the event.The systems also let users see photos from events, after they installthe application, even if they have not taken photos but have enabledauto check-in.

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for curating andconsuming photographs and information derived from photographs(hereinafter, for convenience, referred to as “Shoto”). Shoto givesusers new ways to discover, organize and share photos taken privatelywith their friends, family, and others. Embodiments may comprise asystem or method of contact mapping, phonebook hashing, harvesting ofphoto metadata and other techniques.

Shoto maps a user's contacts stored in the user's mobile device (theidentifying information for these contacts may be phone numbers,Facebook user IDs, or other identifying information). Shoto performs aone-way encryption of the identifying information for the contactsstored in the user's mobile device. The result is hereinafter referredto as the user Identifiable Encryption Key (UIKY). The UIKY is sent to aserver, where it is then compared to the UIKY received from other users'mobile devices.

Shoto identifies relationships between users when there are matches, andcan categorize the relationships depending on the type of identifyinginformation that is matched. For instance, Shoto identifies that UserA's mobile device contains User B's phone number, and vice versa. Shotomay also identify that User A's mobile device contains User C's FacebookID, and vice versa. Certain embodiments may weigh these identifiedrelationships differently in determining the nature and proximity of therelationship between the users, e.g., a phone number match means theusers are close, while only a Facebook ID match means the users are justacquaintances.

Certain embodiments allow users to upload their photos to a server,where they may be stored. Uploading photos can be as easy, for instance,as tapping a plus symbol on any photo or tapping “Start Sharing”. A“timeline” view shows all photos (whether taken with Shoto's nativein-app camera or otherwise collected through Shoto). Photo uploading caneasily be stopped or photos can be removed from Shoto (and thus onlystored locally), for instance by tapping a symbol while the photos areuploading or briefly after they have been uploaded. In some embodiments,photos successfully uploaded are confirmed by a symbol displayed on thescreen. Even uploaded photos can be removed from everyone else's phoneby marking them as unshared.

In addition to contact mapping and phonebook hashing, certainembodiments also harvest metadata (EXIF) from the user's photos(hereinafter referred to as “Photo Metadata”). Photos do not necessarilyneed to be uploaded in order for Photo Metadata to be harvested fromthem. Photo Metadata may include, but is not necessarily limited to,latitude, longitude, time, rotation of photo and date of the photo. Insome embodiments, ambient noise captured before, during or after thephoto being taken is also included as Photo Metadata. Photo Metadata canbe harvested from photos in the user's mobile device storage, cloudstorage (e.g., DropBox, etc.), social networks (e.g., Facebook albums,etc.), and other locations. Photo Metadata is sent along with the UIKYto a server, where the Photo Metadata and UIKY are compared to the PhotoMetadata and UIKY received from other users' mobile devices. Thecomparison of this data yields not only relationships between users, butalso events or moments that the users likely shared (given similar photometadata), as well as other useful information.

Certain embodiments allow the user to adjust overall app settings, forinstance auto-syncing photos, local photo storage, connectivity withthird party applications or third-party services, etc.

Referring to FIG. 1 when images are taken on two devices (100, 102), themetadata from each device is sent to the server. When the image reachesthe server 120, the system looks to see if the photo belongs an event.In this case, the photos do not belong to an existing event, and so themetadata is dropped into an event generation module 122. The systemcreates a new event to accommodate the photo and then puts the photointo that event. After the event is created, and it is seen that thephotos belong to the same event, a collection generation module 128 iscreated to identify a relationship between the two devices. If each userhas the other in their phonebook, then a relationship is established anda collection is created. If each of the users takes multiple photos ontheir respective devices, those photos can then be grouped into albumson the user's device, through the album generation module 130. After thealbum is created, the system then works with the metadata to identifyphotos from an album that might belong to an established collection.When photos in an album are identified to also be in a collection, thediscovery module 132 is triggered. The discovery module builds arelationship between the photos in an album on a user's device withphotos in another album on another user's device. The users can thenshare the photos that have been identified to be part of a commoncollection through the sharing module 134.

Onboarding

Certain implementations of the present invention allow the user toverify their phone number through a verification code. The user selectsa country to fill field 702. When the user enters a valid phone numberin field 704 on screen 700, as illustrated in FIG. 7, and then clicks“Send Activation Code” 706, the user is sent an SMS with theverification code. Simultaneously, the user is taken to a thirdonboarding screen 800 in FIG. 8 on which they can enter their activationcode. When the user enters the correct activation code in field 802 andthen clicks “Finish Signing Up” 804, that user is verified.

There is a certain implementation of the present invention that callsthe user with a verification code in the event that an activation codeis not received via SMS. When the user does not enter a verificationcode into field 802 within 30 seconds of the SMS being sent, the userwill see modal 900. When the user clicks “Call Me” 902, the user istaken to a help screen, such as depicted in FIG. 42, 4200, where theywill see a verification code. Simultaneously, the user will receive aphone call from Shoto thanking them for downloading the app. When theuser clicks the back button, they should be taken back to onboardingscreen 800. When the user enters the correct verification code in field802 and then clicks “Finish Signing Up” 804, that user is verified.

There is a certain implementation that prompts the user to allow Shotoaccess to their Contacts. In FIG. 10, an onboarding screen 1000 providesa route for the user to allow Shoto to access their contacts. When theuser clicks “Allow Access to Contacts” 1004, Shoto is allowed access tothe user's Contacts. If the user has no friends on Shoto, the user willsee modal 1000. When the user clicks “Invite” 1002, the user will see alist of their contacts not on Shoto, as seen on screen 1200. When theuser clicks on “Send Invite” 1202, a SMS will be sent to the selectedcontact with a link to download Shoto. When more than one contact isselected to be invited, the SMS with the link will be sent as a groupSMS.

Some implementations of the present invention allow the user to invitecontacts from their address book to Shoto. In FIG. 11 an onboardingscreen 1100 shows contacts from the address book of users who havedownloaded Shoto and a placeholder contact. When the user clicks on“Invite a friend to Shoto” 1102, the user will see a list of theircontacts not on Shoto, as seen on screen 1200.

Determining an Event

The first photo(s) is analyzed by the server, depending on a number offactors that include but are not limited to the type of place, the dayof week, density of location, history of merges made at that particularlongitude and latitude (a merge is a manual user interaction of merging)and any public data about an event happening at a particular place. Ageo fence, radius, average distance between clusters of photos, andaverage time between clusters are amongst some of the attributesgenerated.

Any of the methods described herein may be totally or partiallyperformed with a computer system including one or more processors, whichcan be configured to perform the steps. Thus, embodiments are directedto computer systems configured to perform the steps of any of themethods described herein, potentially with different componentsperforming a respective step or a respective group of steps. Althoughpresented as numbered steps, steps of methods herein can be performed ata same time or in a different order. Additionally, portions of thesesteps may be used with portions of other steps from other methods. Also,all or portions of a step may be optional. Any of the steps of any ofthe methods can be performed with modules, circuits, or other means forperforming these steps.

Referring to FIG. 2, certain embodiments of the present invention allowfor one user to be notified when another user has an image associatedwith a common event. When the first user takes a picture, the metadataassociated with that photo is sent to the server from the first user'sdevice 202. When the second user takes a picture the metadata associatedwith that photo is sent to the server from the second user's device 204.Using the combined metadata from the first and second users' devices, anevent is identified 206. After an event has been identified, themetadata is then used to associate the images with the event.Specifically, the time and location the photo was taken are used toassociate the images with the event 208. After it is established thatthe photos are associated with the event, the system looks to identify arelationship between the first and second user 210. If each user has theother as a friend on Shoto, or a contact in each other's phone books, arelationship will be established, and the first user will be notifiedthat the second user has an image associated with the event 212.

Adding a Photo to an Existing Event or Creating a New Event

An algorithm that can include machine learning elements applies theseattributes to existing labels of events (examples such as concerts,brunch, walk in park, road trip) and then groups the photos into theevent. Depending on the algorithm, if a photo falls outside any numberof attributes, those photos may get moved into a new event.

Referring to FIG. 3, metadata can be used to determine if an eventalready exists or if an event needs to be created in order for arelationship between users to be identified. When a first user takes aphoto, the metadata associated with that photo is sent from the deviceto server 300. When the metadata reaches the server it is analyzed todetermine a location and time that can be associated with the image 302.Using the identified location and time image, the system looks for otherimages with similar location and times to see if the photo taken belongsto an existing event 304. Part of the process that determines whether aphoto belongs to an existing event includes determining if the takenphoto falls within a predetermined radius of one or more images in anexisting event 306. If the photo belongs to an event, the photo is addedto the existing event 310. If the photo does not belong to an event, anevent is created to accommodate the photo 312, and the photo is added tothe newly created event 314.

Manually Creating an Event

There are certain implementations that allow the user to create anevent. In FIG. 13, screen 1300 exposes a slide out menu 1302. When theuser clicks on “Create Event” 1304, the user will be able to fill in theempty fields 1402 as seen in screen 1400, illustrated in FIG. 14. Whenthe user has filled in the fields and clicks on “Create Envelope” 1404,the event will be created.

The manually created album creates a link that can be sent to friends.When friends visit the link they are asked to enter their phone number(or open in app if they are on their mobile phone that has the app).When they enter their number, Shoto sends them a download link. Oncethey signup from that download link Shoto presents relevant photos tothe event that they could submit during onboarding. Once the useragrees, the user will get to the timeline and the event host will getthe photos.

Determining a Collection

Collections are super sets of photographs that have been groupedtogether based on location, time, and type of location. They includephotos that belong to anyone who knows anyone else at the event. By wayof example, everyone on a day trip that knew someone else who was therewho is using Shoto and has taken photos would have their photos'metadata belonging to a collection.

Referring to FIG. 4, in a particular non-limiting embodiment, images(408, 410) can be grouped into album 424. The user's photos are the onlyphotos that can end up in their album. Other user's photos will notappear in the user's album, however, can appear in the user's collection402. Images that appear in the user's collection, but do not appear inthe user's album (404, 406), are single images that belong to otherusers. Those images belong to other users who are in the user's phonebook, which is why the images appear in the user's collection. Acollection does not necessarily have to include an album, such ascollection 412. Images can exist in a collection, without belonging toan album (414, 416, 418). Images can also belong to an event, and not toa collection (420, 422). The metadata associated with images 420 and422, tells the system that there are no other Shoto users who belong tothe event, with whom a relationship can be built with the user whouploaded either photo 420 or 422.

Albums

Albums are a particular user's view of a collection based on thesymmetrical relationships a user has with those who are in thecollection and any additional one-way relationships where the originatorhas sent the album to the user.

By way of example, a user is with five friends and three of theirfriends in Hyde Park. When five friends of the group take photos, theybelong to the same album, collection, and event. The three others willnot belong in the user's album until one of them sends the user thealbum. They won't belong in the user's album automatically because theuser does not have their phone number in his contacts, but they may havethe user's number in their contacts.

Discoverable Albums

Shoto has the ability to organize and build dynamic photo albums basedon Photo Metadata and uses the UIKY to also populate additional photosinto the SAME view and same Album.

In other words, Shoto infers context from Photo Metadata. For instance,an embodiment of Shoto could infer that a certain set of photographstaken by a user belong in a vacation album because the longitude andlatitude of those photographs are located in a concentrated area awayfar from the user's home location and the dates of the photos show thatthey were taken over the course of a week.

Embodiments take into account certain radiuses of proximity (both intime and location) when inferring context from Photo Metadata. Forexample, Shoto may recognize that a group of photographs appear to havebeen taken in a certain restaurant, according to the latitude andlongitude information in the Photo Metadata. Shoto can then infer thatall pictures taken within a small radius of proximity to these latitudeand longitudinal coordinates were taken at the restaurant. Shoto can usea larger radius of proximity for other situations, for instance wherephotos are taken in a sprawling national park. Additionally, Shotoanalyses factors such as distance and time between clusters, historicalphoto taking behavior where available and uses machine learning to applyprobability of existing modeled events to a particular grouping asdescribed herein.

Shoto also uses public location sources such as (but not restricted to)FourSquare, Yahoo, Google, and WAYN to determine the type of location.

Embodiments can make similar inferences based on other types ofcollected data. For instance, Shoto can infer that a group ofphotographs belong together because of the time they were taken (e.g.,all within a 3-hour window, or each within 30 minutes of the last). Someembodiments can also capture ambient noise when a photograph is taken,which can then be compared for grouping and sharing purposes with theambient noise captured during other photographs. Certain embodiments canalso perform a graphical analysis of the photographs (e.g., measuringthe amount of light) to group and share them. In this vein, Shoto cansimilarly use the distance from Wi-Fi hotspots, compass position, orheight of mobile device, among other things.

Shoto adjusts the time between pictures, distance between pictures andmax timeout before album considered closed basis the location type whichis sources from its services that include but are not limited to its owninput, FourSquare, WAYN, and Yahoo.

Certain embodiments use facial recognition to make certain inferences,e.g., a certain user is present in a photograph. This technology makesit possible for Shoto to better organize user photos, as well as to giveusers more powerful discovery tools.

In order to speed up recognition location, the ShotoCloud uses on-demandprocesses that input locations around pictures taken. When a picture istaken in a new location ShotoCloud begins a process to ingest allpossible location details within a set number of miles around thelocation—this allows Shoto to reduce the number of calls it makes toexternal service providers and also speeds up time to group photos (as a3rd party call isn't required every time). Locations and Events are thenloaded into platform high-speed memory to allow rapid access.

Certain embodiments allow users to adjust the settings for albums. Inone embodiment, album settings show views, contributors, and otheralbum-related settings (e.g., privacy) for the album. Albums can bemerged into a single album, which can later be split into multiplealbums, to better reflect the occasion or for other reasons.

Photo Sharing and Shared Albums

Shoto gives the user the capability to easily and intuitively managephoto permissions. In some embodiments, the Shoto app displays acircular “Slider” which can be manipulated by the user. For instance,the user can move the Slider to 90 degrees (clockwise from top) to setthe permission of a photo or album of photos such that only that usercan access the photo or album of photos. The user could also move theSlider to 180 degrees to set the permission of a photo or album ofphotos such that select other users (typically a subset of the user'sfriends, family, or other acquaintances) could also access the photo oralbum of photos. The user could also move the Slider to 270 degrees toset the permission of a photo or album of photos such that anyone couldaccess the photo or album of photos. The user can move the Slider beforephotos are taken using Shoto's in-app camera for one-step privacysetting, and can also move the Slider to change privacy settings forindividual photos and entire albums that have already been taken or areotherwise preexisting in the user's photo library.

Users have the ability to take pictures using Shoto's in-app camera.This means that with one click (a photograph may be taken by simplytapping once on the mobile device's screen), the user takes a photographthat may be automatically shared with the appropriate other users (ornone at all). By eliminating the extra work (clicks and/or taps)involved with current solutions, users have the ability to share momentswith other users nearly instantaneously. This auto-upload feature may beswitched on and off, and may be set as a default to either setting,depending on the embodiment of Shoto.

In some embodiments, an in-app camera offers live-view filters (e.g.,black & white, sepia, etc.) that display in real time to the user whatthe photo will look like when taken; the chosen filter will be appliedautomatically when the photo is taken. This eliminates the laboriousprocess of applying filters to photos one-by-one after they are taken,which can be very time consuming with large sets of photographs.

There are some implementations of the present invention that allow theuser to share undiscovered moments with other users. When the userclicks on “Start Sharing Photos” 2102 the user will see a screen with alist of friends and contacts with whom they can share the memory, shownon screen 2200 in FIG. 22. When the user clicks on the box with the nameof the friend/contact, the empty circle beside the name 2202 fills inwith a check mark 2204. The friends who were there when the memory wascreated are ordered at the top of the list, preselected. When the userclicks “Next” 2206, they will see the photos that belong to the memorywith a check mark in the bottom right hand corner of the photo 2302indicating a selected state, displayed on screen 2300 in FIG. 23. Whenthe user clicks “Send” 2304, the selected photos will be shared to thoseselected individuals. Selected users who were part of the undiscoveredmoment will see the selected photos in screen 3000 as illustrated inFIG. 30. Selected users who were not part of the undiscovered momentwill see the selected photos in screen 3100 as illustrated in FIG. 31.

There are some implementations of the present invention that allow theuser to invite other users to view unshared memories. When the userclicks on “Start Sharing Photos” 2702 or “Who was with you in thisalbum” 2502 the user will see a screen with a list of friends andcontacts with whom they can share the memory, shown on screen 2800 inFIG. 28. When the user clicks on the box with the name of thefriend/contact, the empty circle beside the name 2802 fills in with acheck mark 2804. When the user clicks “Next” 2806, they will see thephotos that belong to the memory with a check mark 2302 in the bottomright hand corner of the photo indicating a selected state, displayed onscreen 2300 in FIG. 23. When the user clicks “Send” 2304, the selectedphotos will be shared to those selected individuals. Those selected toview the photos will see the photos in screen 3100 as illustrated inFIG. 31.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user to share an event the user created. In FIG. 15, screen 1500provides the user with a route to share their event. When the userclicks “Share Invite URL” 1504, the URL for the event 1502 can be sharedthrough a variety of routes. When the user chooses a route, a link tothe event will be preloaded into the message. When the user sends theInvite URL, the event will be shared with those selected users. When theinvited user clicks on the invite URL and they have not yet downloadedShoto, they will be linked to download Shoto and taken throughonboarding. During onboarding, the invited user will see an intermediateonboarding screen 1600 as seen in FIG. 16. When the user clicks on “SendPhotos & Continue” 1602, those photos that the user has selected fromthe event are uploaded to the event feed.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that canshare an album built in Shoto to Facebook. The user can share a memoryto Facebook from the album view. When the user clicks on the share toFacebook icon 3002, they are taken to a pre-upload screen 1700. The usercan manually set a location 1702 and add a short description 1704. Whenthe user clicks “Share” 1706, the album is uploaded to Facebook.

Proof by Action

Shoto uses “Proof by Action” to infer that users are sharing the samemoment or event (e.g., they are attending the same wedding, baseballgame, dinner party, etc.), and thus allow the users to see each other'sphotos of the moment or event, depending on the users' settings. Proofby Action can work retrospectively as described above in the UIKY/PhotoMetadata comparison analysis. Proof by Action can also work in themoment by automatically checking users in when they use Shoto on anygiven occasion or in the background at any significant change oflocation. Again, in this scenario, where two users' UIKY match and theyare checked in at a similar place and time (with certain built-intolerances described in more detail below), they will be allowed to vieweach other's photos taken at that event or moment, depending on theirsettings. Proof by Action is important because it allows users toefficiently set privacy as part of their workflow, rather than requiringthem to step out of it.

Certain embodiments provide information to users about the contributorsin an album (for instance links to their profiles and furtherinformation). And, contributors to a shared album can be edited (removedand in the future added) from this view. Shoto can display the profilefor other contributors to an album, including the option to remove theirphotos from a user's view of the album or to block this contributor fromseeing the user's photos in their album.

In addition to Proof by Action privacy safeguards, Shoto uses a SaltedEncrypted Device Key (“SEDY”) to decipher the device of a user and keepsall mapping of UIKY to SEDY.

The above-described features allow users to relive moments much moreeasily than they can with existing solutions. This is possible; first,because a user will likely have access to more photos of any given eventor moment than they would otherwise, as Shoto makes it easy toautomatically shares photos with the desired recipients, allowing usersto concentrate on actually enjoying the moment as it happens.

Aside from having more photos to look at, users also get the benefit ofShoto's ability to intelligently deliver photos back to the user usingShoto's “Memory Genie.” This would use Photo Metadata alongside userrelationships to suggest contextually relevant photos to the user. Forinstance, Shoto can automatically notify the user when the user takes aphoto at Location A that the user was also at eight months ago (inferredfrom Photo Metadata), and can show the user the photos from that time.Or, for example, Shoto can remind the user what the user was doing “oneyear ago today” by displaying the user's photos that were taken a yearago (inferred from Photo Metadata).

Discovery

Certain embodiments display graphic representations of socialconnections to the user (hereinafter referred to as a “ShotoGraph”). AShotoGraph may show, for instance, the number of times two users spendtime together (based on Photo Metadata) with a certain graphicrepresentation (e.g., a number, a line of varying width, color or othercharacteristics, etc.). It could also show the duration of each event,or the locations of each get-together between the users on a map. Userscan use ShotoGraph to visually explore their social connections, e.g.,“Who do I go to the park with? Who do I go to eateries with? Who do I goon holiday with?”

End levels of ShotoGraph may be queried using dynamic taxonomies. Forinstance, a user could first query whom the user goes to restaurantswith. Then, the user could break down the query to only discover whomthe user goes to Italian restaurants with. Additionally the user couldquery the ShotoGraph and ask it for a recommendation for a restaurantand the graph will return results that include but are not limited toplaces they have not been to but friends that eat that cuisine have,that eat with the user have, that are friends with the user.

Referring to FIG. 5, in a particular non-limiting embodiment, thereexists a method through which the system can inform a first user ofother Shoto users in their phone book who have photos from a commonevent. The server receives sets of metadata associated with a group ofusers 502. The server then receives sets of contact information fromeach of the devices 504. First the system looks to see if the photosthat were taken by each of the devices belong to a common event 506.When the system finds a group of users who have at least one imageassociated with the event 508, it then looks a subset of those users whoare in the phonebook of the first user 510. When the system finds thesubset of users who are in the phonebook of the first user, it alertsthe first user to the existence of the subset 512.

Certain implementations of the present invention suggest memories thatthe user might find significant and prompt the user to share theaforementioned memories. The case in which more than one individualpossesses photos that belong to a common memory is hereinafter referredto as an “undiscovered” moment. The present invention has the ability toprioritize suggested memories by: the undiscovered state of the memory;the shared state of the memory; and the number of photos that were takenin creating the memories. Screen 2100 in FIG. 21 is an example of amemory that was suggested because of its undiscovered state and has notyet been shared. Screen 2400 in FIG. 24 is an example of a memory thatwas suggested because of its undiscovered state, and has already begunbeing shared. Screen 2500 in FIG. 25 is an example of a memory that wassuggested because the user does not have memories with friends on Shoto,and so is shown the memory on their camera roll with the most photos.

As albums are built or updated by Shoto, they can appear at the top of adynamic album view that will show the user things that have occurredmore recently than others. Further, embodiments may employ dynamicorganization and reorganization within the album itself. As an example,this capability allows Shoto to display different photographs in thebeginning of the album to users each time they open it. Camera reels inShoto can be “collective”; they display not only the User A's photos ofan event/moment, but also other users' photos of the event/moment, ifthese other users permit User A to see them.

Image Search

Certain embodiments have search capabilities that allow users to easilylook for photographs (hereinafter referred to as “Image Search”). ImageSearch applies algorithms to Photo Metadata to retrieve photographsdesired by the user. For instance, Image Search can be used to retrieveall photos of a user with another user in a specific restaurant, or ofthe two of them in any restaurant. A user may use Image Search to createphoto albums on the fly, e.g., to easily create an album composed of thephotos turned up in the results of an Image Search.

Social Recommendation Engine

Some embodiments include a tool for social recommendations (hereinafterreferred to as a “Social Recommendation Engine”). The SocialRecommendation Engine analyzes Photo Metadata and UIKYs to gain insightsthat may be useful in delivering social recommendations and otherservices to users. To illustrate the utility of the SocialRecommendation Engine and demonstrate how it may work in certainembodiments, consider the following examples.

The Social Recommendation Engine may gather that User A attends baseballgames multiple times per season with User B, from their Photo Metadataand Encryption Keys. The Social Recommendation Engine can then notifyUser A and User B that there is a baseball game in one week, attach apicture of the two of them at a baseball game, and include a link to buytickets.

The Social Recommendation Engine may gather that User C eats at Chineserestaurants more than any other type of restaurant. The SocialRecommendation Engine can then deliver recommendations for highly-ratedChinese restaurants to User C.

Notifications

Certain embodiments notify users of certain events. In some embodimentsa notification is for discovery. In other embodiments, a notification isfor a reminder of an event (e.g., a shared memory). For instance, anotifications screen shows updates to albums (e.g., a new user joined, auser added photos, etc.), new local photos to be added to Shoto and anynews from Shoto. This will also provide other notifications related tofeatures (e.g. nudges from other users, photos viewed, photos printed,etc.).

There are some implementations that notify the user that one of theircontacts has joined Shoto and see the number of overlapping moments theuser shares with the newly joined contact. When the user clicks onnotification 3502 in FIG. 35, the user will be taken to the unshared tab3602 as seen on screen 3600 illustrated in FIG. 36.

There are some implementations that notify the user that they have beeninvited to view photos from an event 3504 in FIG. 35. When the userclicks on notification 3504 they should see the photos from the album inscreen 3100 as illustrated in FIG. 31.

There are some implementations that notify the user that photo from anundiscovered moment that they were apart of have begun being shared.When the user clicks on notification 3506 in FIG. 35, they should seethe photos from that album in screen 2400 as illustrated in FIG. 24.

There are some implementations of the present invention that notify theuser that one of their photos has been commented on by another user.When the user clicks on notification 3508 in FIG. 35, they will be takento the image that was commented 3100 on and see comment dialogue 4402 asseen on screen 4400 illustrated in FIG. 44.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that show theuser actions taken by another user within the app. The activitiespresented under the activity tab on screen 3600 are the same activitiesthat appear in the user's notification page, however any activities thatdon't pertain to the user whose profile is being viewed, are filteredout.

Storage of Data

All location data is stored in a database, images are stored either on aplatform of the users choice or on Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).Shoto integrates with Google Drive and other storage vendors. High speedrecords are stored in Redis and other in memory systems like Memcachefor speedy access.

Additional Non-Limiting Features

Certain embodiments include a messaging utility (hereinafter referred toas “Shoto Messenger”). Some embodiments allow users to engage in apeer-to-peer stock photography service. Shoto matches user requests forphotos with certain parameters (e.g., a close-up shot of a ladybug or aset of street scenes in Paris) with users who are in proximity to thedesired photo (or, if the request is non-specific as to location, bysome other measure). Users then have the option to purchase or otherwiseacquire rights to the photographs that other users have taken (eitherdirectly in response to a user request, or otherwise), from within theShoto app itself. In some embodiments, this process takes the form of areverse auction, in which a user makes a bid in exchange for the workbeing done (i.e. for the desired photo(s) being taken).

Some embodiments allow users to share viewfinders when using the in-appcamera and when certain permissions are met. In other words, User Acould view in real time (or near-real time) what User B is seeing onUser B's viewfinder. User A might find this useful either to direct UserB as to what photographs User B should take, or possibly just for User Ato feel a closer connection with the moment that User B is capturing.

Certain embodiments allow users to easily have their photos printed andshipped to them or to another person or location. Users have the abilityto pay for this service from within the Shoto app. For example, User Amay desire to give a printed photo album of all of User A's photos ofuser A and User A's mother to User A's mother for her birthday. User Acan use Image Search to find all of these photos, then compile an albumof the photos, and as a final step pay for the album to be printed,bound, and shipped to User A's mother.

When such a purchase is made then all users can be notified about thepurchase and can then also purchase it (i.e., creating intent on theback of contextual relevance), or the user purchasing can buy for allpeople who were there.

Small businesses can query the social graph to find out anonymously thekind of people coming to their business on a paid query. They can alsoinvite certain types of users (early adopters, users that like acompetitor) to their place of business or send a special offer on achargeable basis.

Some embodiments use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) tofurther extend the power and utility of the Shoto application. APIsallow Shoto to integrate with other applications and systems. Forinstance, a Facebook API connected to Shoto might allow Shoto to gatherall of User A's photos from user A's Facebook account, which might beconvenient for User A.

Some embodiments utilize user gestures as part of the workflow in orderto streamline processes and make them intuitive. For instance, in someembodiments a double tap on the screen can make all informative overlaysdisappear, exposing a clean and uninhibited view of a photograph orviewfinder window. Or, a user can slash across a photo to either deleteit (if it is that user's photo) or to hide it (if it is another user'sphoto). Or, another gesture (which could include a shake of the mobiledevice) could notify users with UIKY and Photo Metadata matches thatthey are possibly at the same event or sharing the same moment, andcould then be prompted to share their photos with each other.

Certain embodiments may be used with wearable cameras and otheraugmented reality devices, such as Google Glass. Refer to Figure Set Bfor more details.

Some embodiments may allow users to easily view compiled “newspapers” ofphotos based on certain criteria. For instance, User A may desire to seeall photographs taken in San Francisco on Jan. 1, 2010 that User A hasaccess to (i.e., they are publicly shared or User A otherwise haspermission to them). Shoto can compile an album of these photographs,along with other content that may include news stories related to thephotographs (inferred from the Photo Metadata) or other information.

Certain embodiments allow users to comment on photos and rate them.These comments and ratings may either be publicly viewed or restrictedto only certain users.

Some embodiments may take the form of a web application (as opposed to amobile application intended to be opened only on a mobile device). Thiswill enable users to upload photos taken with cameras or other devicesthat do not support the mobile app. Further features may include photoediting and organization. In certain embodiments of the web application,users can share photos and albums using shortened URLs that will leadthe recipients to only those photos and albums that are intended forthem to see (in addition to other methods of sharing).

Some implementations of the present invention allow separate memories tobe merged into a single album. In FIG. 13, screen 1300 exposes a slideout menu 1302. When the user clicks on “Merge Albums” 1306, the userwill be able to select albums on screen 4300, as illustrated in FIG. 43.When the user clicks on empty circles 4302, the circle will fill with acheck mark 4304, and the album will be considered selected. When theuser clicks on the merge icon 4306, the selected albums merge intowhichever album was selected first. The user can merge memories that aregrouped under each of the three tabs on the timeline. If the userpresses on check mark icon 4308, the merge will be cancelled.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user to unshare particular photos in a shared album. When the userclicks on image settings icon 4004 seen in FIG. 40, the user will seescreen 4100 as illustrated in FIG. 41. When the user toggles share to“off” 4102, the image will be unshared from the album. Invited viewersand contributors to the album will no longer see that photo, and thephoto will appear under the unshared tab on the timeline if it was notpart of an undiscovered album. If the photo was part of an undiscoveredmemory, it will appear under the discover tab on the timeline.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user to remove memories from their timeline. When the user removes amemory from their timeline, their photos from that memory are alsohidden from other users. When the user clicks on the trashcan icon 3004,as illustrated on album view 3000 in FIG. 30, the memory becomes hidden.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user to view their Removed Albums. When the user clicks on“Settings” 1308 in slide menu 1302, the user will see app settings asillustrated in FIG. 39. When the user clicks on “Removed Albums” 3908,the user will see their removed albums. If the user removes a memorythat has already been shared, the memory will appear under the sharedremoved memories tab, as seen on screen 1800 in FIG. 18. If the userremoves a memory that has not yet been shared, the memory will appearunder the unshared removed albums tab, as seen on screen 1900 in FIG.19.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user add Removed albums back to their timeline. When the user adds aremoved album back to their timeline, their photos from that memoryreappear to other users who share or are invited to view that memory.When the user clicks on the plus sign icon 3102 on screen 3100, thememory is added back to their timeline, and the photos reappear.

Organization of Photos

Some implementations of the present invention allow undiscovered momentsto be grouped under a single tab in a timeline. Screen 2600 in FIG. 26displays the user's undiscovered moments in a timeline view. 2606illustrates an undiscovered moment that has not begun to be shared. 2608illustrates an undiscovered moment that has already begun to be sharedby other members of the memory. When the user clicks on “Start Sharing .. . ” 2602 or “Share Back” 2604, they are taken through the sharingprocess illustrated in FIGS. 22-23. When the user clicks on the previewsof photos in the album 2606, the user will see the photos in screen 3350as illustrated in FIG. 33. When the user clicks on previews of photos inthe album 2608, the user will see the photos in screen 3450 asillustrated in FIG. 34.

Some implementations of the present invention allow memories which theuser experienced independently to be grouped under a single tab in atimeline. Such memories are hereinafter referred to as “unshared”memories. Screen 2700 in FIG. 27 displays the unshared memories in atimeline view. When the user clicks on “Start Sharing . . . ” 2702, theuser is taken through the sharing process illustrated in FIGS. 28 and23. When the user clicks on the previews of photos in the album 2704,the user should see the photos in screen 3200 as illustrated in FIG. 32.

Some implementations of the present invention allow memories that theuser has shared or received to be grouped under a single tab. Screen2900 in FIG. 29 displays the user's shared memories 2902 and receivedmemories 2904.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowthe user to see all of the undiscovered memories they shared withanother user. In FIG. 38, screen 3800 shows how the user's undiscoveredmemories with another user.

There are certain implementations of the present invention that allowfor the user to see all of their shared memories with another user. InFIG. 37, screen 3700 shows the user's shared memories with another userin a timeline view.

Digital Processing Device

In some embodiments, the platforms, systems, media, and methodsdescribed herein include a digital processing device, or use of thesame. In further embodiments, the digital processing device includes oneor more hardware central processing units (CPU) that carry out thedevice's functions. In still further embodiments, the digital processingdevice further comprises an operating system configured to performexecutable instructions. In some embodiments, the digital processingdevice is optionally connected a computer network. In furtherembodiments, the digital processing device is optionally connected tothe Internet such that it accesses the World Wide Web. In furtherembodiments, the digital processing device is optionally connected to acloud computing infrastructure. In other embodiments, the digitalprocessing device is optionally connected to an intranet. In otherembodiments, the digital processing device is optionally connected to adata storage device.

In accordance with the description herein, suitable digital processingdevices include, by way of non-limiting examples, server computers,desktop computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, sub-notebookcomputers, netbook computers, netpad computers, set-top computers, mediastreaming devices, handheld computers, Internet appliances, mobilesmartphones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants, video gameconsoles, and vehicles. Those of skill in the art will recognize thatmany smartphones are suitable for use in the system described herein.Those of skill in the art will also recognize that select televisions,video players, and digital music players with optional computer networkconnectivity are suitable for use in the system described herein.Suitable tablet computers include those with booklet, slate, andconvertible configurations, known to those of skill in the art.

In some embodiments, the digital processing device includes an operatingsystem configured to perform executable instructions. The operatingsystem is, for example, software, including programs and data, whichmanages the device's hardware and provides services for execution ofapplications. Those of skill in the art will recognize that suitableserver operating systems include, by way of non-limiting examples,FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD®, Linux, Apple® Mac OS X Server®, Oracle®Solaris®, Windows Server®, and Novell® NetWare®. Those of skill in theart will recognize that suitable personal computer operating systemsinclude, by way of non-limiting examples, Microsoft® Windows®, Apple®Mac OS X®, UNIX®, and UNIX-like operating systems such as GNU/Linux®. Insome embodiments, the operating system is provided by cloud computing.Those of skill in the art will also recognize that suitable mobile smartphone operating systems include, by way of non-limiting examples, Nokia®Symbian® OS, Apple® iOS®, Research In Motion® BlackBerry OS®, Google®Android®, Microsoft® Windows Phone® OS, Microsoft® Windows Mobile® OS,Linux®, and Palm® WebOS®. Those of skill in the art will also recognizethat suitable media streaming device operating systems include, by wayof non-limiting examples, Apple TV®, Roku®, Boxee®, Google TV®, GoogleChromecast®, Amazon Fire®, and Samsung® HomeSync®. Those of skill in theart will also recognize that suitable video game console operatingsystems include, by way of non-limiting examples, Sony® PS3®, Sony®PS4®, Microsoft® Xbox 360®, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo® Wii®,Nintendo® Wii U®, and Ouya®.

In some embodiments, the device includes a storage and/or memory device.The storage and/or memory device is one or more physical apparatusesused to store data or programs on a temporary or permanent basis. Insome embodiments, the device is volatile memory and requires power tomaintain stored information. In some embodiments, the device isnon-volatile memory and retains stored information when the digitalprocessing device is not powered. In further embodiments, thenon-volatile memory comprises flash memory. In some embodiments, thenon-volatile memory comprises dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). Insome embodiments, the non-volatile memory comprises ferroelectric randomaccess memory (FRAM). In some embodiments, the non-volatile memorycomprises phase-change random access memory (PRAM). In otherembodiments, the device is a storage device including, by way ofnon-limiting examples, CD-ROMs, DVDs, flash memory devices, magneticdisk drives, magnetic tapes drives, optical disk drives, and cloudcomputing based storage. In further embodiments, the storage and/ormemory device is a combination of devices such as those disclosedherein.

In some embodiments, the digital processing device includes a display tosend visual information to a user. In some embodiments, the display is acathode ray tube (CRT). In some embodiments, the display is a liquidcrystal display (LCD). In further embodiments, the display is a thinfilm transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD). In some embodiments,the display is an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. Invarious further embodiments, on OLED display is a passive-matrix OLED(PMOLED) or active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display. In some embodiments,the display is a plasma display. In other embodiments, the display is avideo projector. In still further embodiments, the display is acombination of devices such as those disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the digital processing device includes an inputdevice to receive information from a user. In some embodiments, theinput device is a keyboard. In some embodiments, the input device is apointing device including, by way of non-limiting examples, a mouse,trackball, track pad, joystick, game controller, or stylus. In someembodiments, the input device is a touch screen or a multi-touch screen.In other embodiments, the input device is a microphone to capture voiceor other sound input. In other embodiments, the input device is a videocamera or other sensor to capture motion or visual input. In furtherembodiments, the input device is a Kinect, Leap Motion, or the like. Instill further embodiments, the input device is a combination of devicessuch as those disclosed herein.

Non-Transitory Computer Readable Storage Medium

In some embodiments, the platforms, systems, media, and methodsdisclosed herein include one or more non-transitory computer readablestorage media encoded with a program including instructions executableby the operating system of an optionally networked digital processingdevice. In further embodiments, a computer readable storage medium is atangible component of a digital processing device. In still furtherembodiments, a computer readable storage medium is optionally removablefrom a digital processing device. In some embodiments, a computerreadable storage medium includes, by way of non-limiting examples,CD-ROMs, DVDs, flash memory devices, solid state memory, magnetic diskdrives, magnetic tape drives, optical disk drives, cloud computingsystems and services, and the like. In some cases, the program andinstructions are permanently, substantially permanently,semi-permanently, or non-transitorily encoded on the media.

Computer Program

In some embodiments, the platforms, systems, media, and methodsdisclosed herein include at least one computer program, or use of thesame. A computer program includes a sequence of instructions, executablein the digital processing device's CPU, written to perform a specifiedtask. Computer readable instructions may be implemented as programmodules, such as functions, objects, Application Programming Interfaces(APIs), data structures, and the like, that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. In light of the disclosureprovided herein, those of skill in the art will recognize that acomputer program may be written in various versions of variouslanguages.

The functionality of the computer readable instructions may be combinedor distributed as desired in various environments. In some embodiments,a computer program comprises one sequence of instructions. In someembodiments, a computer program comprises a plurality of sequences ofinstructions. In some embodiments, a computer program is provided fromone location. In other embodiments, a computer program is provided froma plurality of locations. In various embodiments, a computer programincludes one or more software modules. In various embodiments, acomputer program includes, in part or in whole, one or more webapplications, one or more mobile applications, one or more standaloneapplications, one or more web browser plug-ins, extensions, add-ins, oradd-ons, or combinations thereof.

Mobile Application

In some embodiments, a computer program includes a mobile applicationprovided to a mobile digital processing device. In some embodiments, themobile application is provided to a mobile digital processing device atthe time it is manufactured. In other embodiments, the mobileapplication is provided to a mobile digital processing device via thecomputer network described herein.

In view of the disclosure provided herein, a mobile application iscreated by techniques known to those of skill in the art using hardware,languages, and development environments known to the art. Those of skillin the art will recognize that mobile applications are written inseveral languages. Suitable programming languages include, by way ofnon-limiting examples, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Java™, Javascript,Pascal, Object Pascal, Python™, Ruby, VB.NET, WML, and XHTML/HTML withor without CSS, or combinations thereof.

Suitable mobile application development environments are available fromseveral sources. Commercially available development environmentsinclude, by way of non-limiting examples, AirplaySDK, alcheMo,Appcelerator®, Celsius, Bedrock, Flash Lite, .NET Compact Framework,Rhomobile, and WorkLight Mobile Platform. Other development environmentsare available without cost including, by way of non-limiting examples,Lazarus, MobiFlex, MoSync, and Phonegap. Also, mobile devicemanufacturers distribute software developer kits including, by way ofnon-limiting examples, iPhone and iPad (iOS) SDK, Android™ SDK,BlackBerry® SDK, BREW SDK, Palm® OS SDK, Symbian SDK, webOS SDK, andWindows® Mobile SDK.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that several commercial forumsare available for distribution of mobile applications including, by wayof non-limiting examples, Apple® App Store, Android™ Market, BlackBerry®App World, App Store for Palm devices, App Catalog for webOS, Windows®Marketplace for Mobile, Ovi Store for Nokia® devices, Samsung® Apps, andNintendo® DSi Shop.

Web Application

In some embodiments, a computer program includes a web application. Inlight of the disclosure provided herein, those of skill in the art willrecognize that a web application, in various embodiments, utilizes oneor more software frameworks and one or more database systems. In someembodiments, a web application is created upon a software framework suchas Microsoft® .NET or Ruby on Rails (RoR). In some embodiments, a webapplication utilizes one or more database systems including, by way ofnon-limiting examples, relational, non-relational, object oriented,associative, and XML database systems. In further embodiments, suitablerelational database systems include, by way of non-limiting examples,Microsoft® SQL Server, mySQL™, and Oracle®. Those of skill in the artwill also recognize that a web application, in various embodiments, iswritten in one or more versions of one or more languages. A webapplication may be written in one or more markup languages, presentationdefinition languages, client-side scripting languages, server-sidecoding languages, database query languages, or combinations thereof. Insome embodiments, a web application is written to some extent in amarkup language such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), ExtensibleHypertext Markup Language (XHTML), or eXtensible Markup Language (XML).In some embodiments, a web application is written to some extent in apresentation definition language such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).In some embodiments, a web application is written to some extent in aclient-side scripting language such as Asynchronous Javascript and XML(AJAX), Flash® Actionscript, Javascript, or Silverlight®. In someembodiments, a web application is written to some extent in aserver-side coding language such as Active Server Pages (ASP),ColdFusion®, Perl, Java™, JavaServer Pages (JSP), Hypertext Preprocessor(PHP), Python™, Ruby, Tcl, Smalltalk, WebDNA®, or Groovy. In someembodiments, a web application is written to some extent in a databasequery language such as Structured Query Language (SQL). In someembodiments, a web application integrates enterprise server productssuch as IBM® Lotus Domino®. In some embodiments, a web applicationincludes a media player element. In various further embodiments, a mediaplayer element utilizes one or more of many suitable multimediatechnologies including, by way of non-limiting examples, Adobe® Flash®,HTML 5, Apple® QuickTime®, Microsoft® Silverlight®, Java™, and Unityo

Software Modules

In some embodiments, the platforms, systems, media, and methodsdisclosed herein include software, server, and/or database modules, oruse of the same. In view of the disclosure provided herein, softwaremodules are created by techniques known to those of skill in the artusing machines, software, and languages known to the art. The softwaremodules disclosed herein are implemented in a multitude of ways. Invarious embodiments, a software module comprises a file, a section ofcode, a programming object, a programming structure, or combinationsthereof. In further various embodiments, a software module comprises aplurality of files, a plurality of sections of code, a plurality ofprogramming objects, a plurality of programming structures, orcombinations thereof. In various embodiments, the one or more softwaremodules comprise, by way of non-limiting examples, a web application, amobile application, and a standalone application. In some embodiments,software modules are in one computer program or application. In otherembodiments, software modules are in more than one computer program orapplication. In some embodiments, software modules are hosted on onemachine. In other embodiments, software modules are hosted on more thanone machine. In further embodiments, software modules are hosted oncloud computing platforms. In some embodiments, software modules arehosted on one or more machines in one location. In other embodiments,software modules are hosted on one or more machines in more than onelocation.

Databases

In some embodiments, the platforms, systems, media, and methodsdisclosed herein include one or more databases, or use of the same. Inview of the disclosure provided herein, those of skill in the art willrecognize that many databases are suitable for storage and retrieval ofphoto and user information. In various embodiments, suitable databasesinclude, by way of non-limiting examples, relational databases,non-relational databases, object oriented databases, object databases,entity-relationship model databases, associative databases, and XMLdatabases. In some embodiments, a database is internet-based. In furtherembodiments, a database is web-based. In still further embodiments, adatabase is cloud computing-based. In other embodiments, a database isbased on one or more local computer storage devices.

EXAMPLES

The following illustrative examples are representative of embodiments ofthe software applications, systems, and methods described herein and arenot meant to be limiting in any way.

Example 1

A pair of spouses goes out for a night out on the town. During the nightboth spouses take some pictures on their respective phones. When theyget home, the wife suggests that the husband download Shoto because ofsomething she saw online, and so they both download the app together.The first thing they both see is a screen explaining what Shoto does.Casually they swipe through additional storyboard screens which allprovide further explanation of how Shoto works. On each of thestoryboard screens they see a button that says “Sign Up for Shoto.”

The husband presses “Sign Up for Shoto” and is immediately asked toinput his phone number. He selects the country he is in and inputs hisphone number. After he is done inputting his phone number he presses abutton that says “Send Verification Code.” When he presses the button heis immediately taken to a screen that asks him input a verificationcode. He waits a couple of seconds for an SMS to arrive with theverification code.

When the verification code arrives, he types it into the space providedand presses “Complete Verification.” After he presses “CompleteVerification,” he is taken to a screen that explains why he was askedfor access to his photos when he first downloaded the app. He also seesa button that says “Sounds Good!” When he presses on the button he istaken to another screen that explains why Shoto accessed his locationand contacts when he downloaded the app. Similar to the previous screen,he sees a button that says “Sounds Good!” When he presses the button heis taken to a screen that contains a list of all the people in hisaddress book who are on Shoto and a separate list of all those whoaren't. He notices that a good friend hasn't downloaded Shoto yet. Hepresses the button next to his friend's name that says “Invite.” When hepresses the button, it change to say “Remove” and his friend is added toa list of people who will receive an SMS from him with a link todownload the app. After selecting a few more friends from his addressbook, he presses the button that says “Send Invite” and those selectedfriends will be sent a SMS. The button then changes to say “CompleteOnboarding.” When he presses on “Complete Onboarding” he is taken to ascreen that has a suggested album. To his surprise he sees photos fromthe night of fun he had with his wife. When he presses on the buttonthat says “Start Sharing” he sees her name at the top of a list offriends on Shoto. Her name is preselected. When he presses “Next,” hesees a grid of photos he took from the night preselected. He can togglethe selected state of the photo by tapping on it. When he has selectedthe photos he wants to share with his wife and presses the button thatsays “Share,” his photos will be shared to his wife.

After he presses “Share,” he is taken to the main timeline of the appunder a discover tab. Now, if his friend downloaded the app, and he tookphotos when the two were together, he sees those photos in his discovertab. He also sees a button that says “Start Sharing” associated witheach of his undiscovered albums. When he presses “Start Sharing” he istaken through the same process as when he shared photos with his wifemoments ago.

To view all the albums he shared, he goes to the shared tab on thetimeline. He sees all the albums he has shared ordered by when the albumwas found. He can share all his unshared and shared albums to Facebookby pressing a Facebook icon. When he presses on the Facebook icon, he istaken to a Facebook upload screen where he can edit the location and adda description. After he selects the photos he wants uploaded toFacebook, he presses “Share” to upload those photos.

Not all of the pictures he has taken are with people. To see albums ofpictures he took independently he goes to the “unshared” tab on thetimeline. He sees albums of pictures he took by himself integrated withalbums of photos that were taken with people that haven't been sharedyet.

If he decides that a particular album is taking up to much space on histimeline, or the night ends up being one he'd rather forget, he can hidethe album from his timeline. When he presses an icon, the album isremoved from his timeline and the icon changes to a plus icon. He canaccess that album by pressing on “Settings” in the slide out menu, andthen pressing “Removed Albums.” If the hidden album was originallyshared, it will appear under a Shared Removed Albums tab. If the hiddenalbum was originally unshared, it will appear under an Unshared RemovedAlbums tab. To add an album back to the timeline, all he has to do ispress the plus icon.

To see his notifications, he presses a bell icon. He will be notifiedwhen someone comments on one of his photos, if someone in his addressbook joins Shoto, if he is invited to view an album, and if anundiscovered moment he was part of is shared.

Example 2

A user plans to throw a birthday party tomorrow afternoon. To create anevent, the user presses an interface button on a slide out menu of theShoto mobile application. When the user presses the “create an event”button the user is taken to a page where they can specify the name oftheir event; when the birthday party begins and ends; where the party isgoing to be; and a message to send to friends. When the user is finishedfilling in fields, the user can press on “Create Envelope.” When theuser presses on “Create Envelope” the user is taken to screen, fromwhich they can share the event with an invite URL through an array ofoptions by pressing “Share Invite URL.”

When the user invites someone who doesn't have Shoto, to the birthdayparty, the invited user can choose to download Shoto. When the inviteduser downloads Shoto, they are taken through the same onboarding processas the first user underwent when they first downloaded the app, with onesmall exception. After they verify their phone number they areimmediately taken to an event screen. From the event screen they will beable to choose which of their photos from the birthday party they wantto share to the event page, and share them.

The user wishes to see a list of their friends on Shoto. The userpresses “Friends” on the slide out menu. When the user presses“Friends,” the user is taken to a list of their friends on Shoto. Shotowill also send you memories every day that you could share with peopleand friends.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatsuch embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerousvariations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilledin the art without departing from the invention. It should be understoodthat various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention describedherein may be employed in practicing the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for grouping a plurality of images froma plurality of users into an event, the method comprising: a) receiving,at a computing system, a first set of metadata from a first deviceassociated with a first user and a second set of metadata from a seconddevice associated with a second user, wherein: the first set of metadatais associated with a first image stored on the first device, andincludes location information and time information for the first image;the second set of metadata is associated with a second image stored onthe second device, and includes location information and timeinformation for the second image; b) identifying, by the computingdevice, a first event based on the first set of metadata and the secondset of metadata, wherein the first event has a defined beginning timeand a defined end time; c) associating, by the computing device, thefirst image and the second image with the first event based on thelocation information or the time information associated with the firstimage and the second image; d) identifying, by the computing device, arelationship between the first user and the second user; and e) sending,by the computing device, a notification to the first user that thesecond user has an image associated with the first event.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving a first set of contactsinformation from the first device and a second set of contactsinformation from the second device; and comparing the first set ofcontacts information with the second set of contacts information toidentify a match, wherein the relationship between the first user andthe second user is identified based on the match.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the first device stores a plurality of images, the methodfurther comprising: associating a portion of the plurality of imageswith the first event on the first device.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: creating the first event using at least one of thefirst set of metadata and the second set of metadata.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: analyzing the first set of metadata and thesecond set of metadata; and inferring information about the first userand the second user based on the analyzing.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: generating a recommendation for the first user orthe second user based on the analyzing.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: analyzing location information included in the firstset of metadata and the second set of metadata; and determining a radiusof proximity for the first event based on the analyzing.
 8. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving additional location-relatedinformation from an external source; and defining properties of thefirst event using the additional information.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: a) receiving additional sets of metadata fromadditional devices associated with additional users; b) receiving setsof contacts information from the additional devices; c) receiving afirst set of contacts information from the first device; d) analyzingthe first set of contacts information, the additional sets of contactsinformation and the additional sets of metadata associated with each ofthe additional users; e) determining a plurality of users among theadditional users who has at least one image associated with the firstevent; f) discovering a subset of users among the plurality of userswhose contact information is included in the first set of contactsinformation; and g) informing the first user about the determined subsetof users.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: a) receiving athird set of metadata from the first device, wherein the third set ofmetadata is associated with a third image stored on the first device,and includes location information and time information for the thirdimage; b) comparing the location information and time information forthe third image to the location and time information of the first imageor the second image; c) determining that the location information andtime information for the third image is different from the location andtime information of the first image or the second image; d) creating, bythe computing device, a second event based on the third set of metadata,wherein the second event has a defined beginning time and a defined endtime that is different than the first event; and e) associating thethird image with the second event instead of the first event based onthe location information or the time information associated with thethird image.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: closing thefirst event.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: merging thefirst event and the second event into a merged event, wherein: abeginning time of the merged event is equal to or before than thebeginning times of both the first event and the second event, and an endtime of the merged event is equal to or after than the end times of boththe first event and the second event.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving an instruction from the first user to share thefirst image with the second user; and making the first image availableto the second user.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first devicestores a plurality of images, the method further comprising: a)receiving a query from the first user to identify one or more images onthe first device that belongs to a given event; b) analyzing sets ofmetadata associated with the plurality of images; c) identifying zero ormore images based on the analyzing; and d) providing the identified zeroor more images to the first user in response to the query.
 15. Acomputer-implemented system comprising: a) a digital processing devicecomprising an operating system configured to perform executableinstructions and a memory; b) a computer program including instructionsexecutable by the digital processing device to create a media sharingapplication comprising: i. a software module configured to receive, afirst set of metadata from a first device associated with a first userand a second set of metadata from a second device associated with asecond user, wherein: the first set of metadata is associated with afirst image stored on the first device, and includes locationinformation and time information for the first image, wherein the secondset of metadata is associated with a second image stored on the seconddevice, and includes location information and time information for thesecond image; ii. a software module configured to identify a first eventbased on the first set of metadata and the second set of metadata,wherein the first event has a defined beginning time and a defined endtime; iii. a software module configured to associate the first image andthe second image with the first event based on the location informationor the time information associated with the first image and the secondimage; iv. a software module configured to identify a relationshipbetween the first user and the second user; and v. a software moduleconfigured to send a notification to the first user that the second userhas an image associated with the first event.
 16. The system of claim15, further comprising: a software module configured to receive a firstset of contacts information from the first device and a second set ofcontacts information from the second device; and a software moduleconfigured to compare the first set of contacts information with thesecond set of contacts information to identify a match, wherein therelationship between the first user and the second user is identifiedbased on the match.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first devicestores a plurality of images, the system further comprises: a softwaremodule configured to associate a portion of the plurality of images withthe first event on the first device.
 18. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: a software module configured to create the first event usingat least one of the first set of metadata and the second set ofmetadata.
 19. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a softwaremodule configured to analyze the first set of metadata and the secondset of metadata; and a software module configured to infer informationabout the first user and the second user based on the analyzing.
 20. Thesystem of claim 15, further comprising: a software module configured togenerate a recommendation for the first user or the second user based onthe analysis.
 21. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a softwaremodule configured to analyze location information included in the firstset of metadata and the second set of metadata; and a software moduleconfigured to determine a radius of proximity for the first event basedon the analysis.
 22. The system of claim 15, further comprising: asoftware module configured to receive additional location-relatedinformation from an external source; and a software module configured todefine properties of the first event using the additional information.23. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a) a software moduleconfigured to receive additional sets of metadata from additionaldevices associated with additional users; b) a software moduleconfigured to receive sets of contacts information from the additionaldevices; c) a software module configured to receive a first set ofcontacts information from the first device; d) a software moduleconfigured to analyze the first set of contacts information, theadditional sets of contacts information and the additional sets ofmetadata associated with each of the additional users; e) a softwaremodule configured to determine a plurality of users among the additionalusers who has at least one image associated with the first event; f) asoftware module configured to discover a subset of users among theplurality of users whose contact information is included in the firstset of contacts information; and g) a software module configured toinform the first user and about the determined subset of users.
 24. Thesystem of claim 15, further comprising: a) a software module configuredto receive a third set of metadata from the first device, wherein thethird set of metadata is associated with a third image stored on thefirst device, including location information and time information forthe third image; b) a software module configured to compare the locationinformation and time information for the third image to the location andtime information of the first image or the second image; c) a softwaremodule configured to determine that the location information and timeinformation for the third image is different from the location and timeinformation of the first image or the second image; d) a software moduleconfigured to create a second event based on the third set of metadata,wherein the second event has a defined beginning time and a defined endtime that is different than the first event; and e) a software moduleconfigured to associate the third image with the second event instead ofthe first event based on the location information or the timeinformation associated with the third image.
 25. The system of claim 24,further comprising a software module configured to close the firstevent.
 26. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a software moduleconfigured to merge the first event and the second event into a mergedevent, wherein: a beginning time of the merged event is equal to orbefore than the beginning times of both the first event and the secondevent, and an end time of the merged event is equal to or after than theend times of both the first event and the second event.
 27. The systemof claim 15, further comprising: a software module configured to receivean instruction from the first user to share the first image with thesecond user; and a software module configured to make the first imageavailable to the second user.
 28. The system of claim 15, wherein thefirst device stores a plurality of images, the system further comprises:a) a software module configured to receive a query from the first userto identify one or more images on the first device that belongs to agiven event; b) a software module configured to analyze sets of metadataassociated with the plurality of images; c) a software module configuredto identify zero or more images based on the analyzing; and d) asoftware module configured to provide the identified zero or more imagesto the first user in response to the query.